Like this:

Comments

Is there any particular reason there are so many Bells beers on tap around town but never Kalamazoo stout? I see Guinness on a few here and there, Kalamazoo blows it away, as do a few other micro dry stouts. Guinness must offer some great deals to keep theirs the only dry stout around.

Hey Rod,
Guinness doesn’t offer any deals in order to get on tap. It has simply become a staple draft when a new bar opens up. It is the Budweiser of stout beers–ubiquitous. Guinness drinkers don’t necessarily drink stout; they drink Guinness, if you get what I’m saying. There are basically three types of Guinness drinkers:
1.The Loyalist–People who drink nothing but Guinness 90% of the time
2.The thematic drinker–they drink it at Irish pubs, etc.
3.The St. Patrick’s Day Guinness drinker–you guessed it, they drink it once a year

Stout draft has become a very tough category with bars and restaurants. Aside from the good beer bars, most bars are afraid to put more than one stout on tap–especially in the Spring & Summer.

Thanks Derek, I guess the thing thats most odd though, is that its easier to find an Imperial on draft. It would seem that if there are enough people around to empty kegs of a beer that big and thick, there should be no problem emptying a keg of Kalamazoo.

Rod, don’t you think the places who’ve been serving Imperial Stouts on draft are beer bars? When discussing Guinness and the availability of other stouts, I assumed we were talking about “normal” bars.

I’m with you on the Kalamazoo Stout. I’ve always preferred Bell’s stouts to the beers that they’re known best for such as Two Hearted and Oberon. Bell’s is a great brewer; so, please no one misconstrue this. I think some of their beers like Amber, Pale and Kalamazoo Stout are under-appreciated and get unfairly overshadowed by Two Hearted and Oberon.

Derek, I should have been more specific, it would be nice to see other dry stouts at the restaurants as well but I certainly think the beer bars need at least ONE! For instance the Stable has 3 stouts on tap, none of which are dry. I was at I-Tap yesterday and the only stout there was Night Tripper.